Mourning the Loss of Political Scientist Max Kaase
This text was translated from German by AI / DeepL Pro.
Max Kaase was born on 14 May 1935 in Krefeld. After completing his Abitur, he pursued studies in Economics, sociology and political science at the University of Cologne, graduating in 1959 with a Diplom in Economics. In 1964, he obtained his doctorate at the University of Cologne. He then worked as a research assistant to Rudolf Wildenmann at the newly established Chair of Political Science I at the Wirtschaftshochschule Mannheim – which became the University of Mannheim in 1967. Following several stays in the USA, Kaase qualified as a professor at the University of Mannheim in 1972.
From 1974, Max Kaase was an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Mannheim and Executive Director of the newly founded Zentrum für Umfragen, Methoden und Analysen (Centre for Surveys, Methods and Analyses, ZUMA), which later became part of GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. From 1980 to 1993, he held the chair for Political Science and International Comparative Social Research at the School of Social Sciences at the University of Mannheim, before moving to the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (Berlin Social Science Centre, WZB).
From 2007 to 2013, Kaase was a member of the University Supervisory Board, and served as its chair from 2010 to 2013. In 2013, Kaase was awarded the University Medal in Gold in recognition of his services.
Max Kaase built up a reputation as an outstanding representative of empirically and analytically oriented political sociology. His extensive academic output (six monographs, 16 edited volumes, over 30 journal articles and well over 100 book chapters) establishes him as a quantitative and empirical chronicler and analyst who focused his work on the relationship between citizens and voters and the democratic order of the Federal Republic of Germany and other Western democracies.
Furthermore, he is remembered as a visionary research administrator who initiated fundamental data-oriented infrastructures that have improved the knowledge base of the social science community in the long term. Among other things, the European Social Survey (ESS) – which, with over 30 participating countries, is now one of the highest-quality survey projects worldwide – owes its existence to his commitment. He also contributed his expertise to numerous bodies, including the Scientific Board of the Swiss Foundation for Research in the Social Sciences (FORS), the German Research Foundation (DFG), the German Science Council, and as President of the International Political Science Association (IPSA).
The University of Mannheim and the School of Social Sciences will honour the memory of Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Max Kaase.